The Imposter Solution

The following is the second part of a guest post by Cinema, discussing strategies to combat imposter syndrome. Take it away Cinema…

In the last post I spoke about The Imposter Syndrome. Check it out before reading on. Then again, maybe you enjoy jumping ahead!

The standard response to how to overcome The Imposter Syndrome sounds something like:

“Just celebrate! Have fun!”

“Enjoy the moment!”

“Be proud of you accomplishments…”

That’s as useful as your doctor telling you that Diet & Exercise will keep you healthy. It isn’t actionable.

While I haven’t overcome Imposter Syndrome, I have developed strategies to at least get a taste of the satisfaction of accomplishment. To be clear, this is an evolving framework and by no means a certain solution. I hope you can leverage it to your benefit.

With that in mind, here are some ideas to consider:

Fake it until you… enjoy it. Seriously. Sometimes, it actually works. Meet up with friends after work and laugh more than usual. Pretend you’re funnier than you actually are, and laugh…mostly at yourself. Then, with yourself. Seriously. Try it. It feels good. Weirdly good.

Start moving. If it’s something you enjoy, then do it. Playing sports, break-dancing, etc. One thing that I really like about this is that even if you don’t feel like celebrating with anybody, you’ll feel so good that you’ll want to celebrate by yourself. Here’s my routine: Black Forest Cake, Cordon Negro Brut Cava (Spanish Champagne), and Netflix. Sweet Moses, that sounds delicious. Maybe I’ll pick up one right now.

Tell a friend who loves to have a good time. Then, help them. If you can’t start the party, then ride the wave your friends start for you. Leverage your closest friends to help yourself. They know you better than most people.

Journal. It’ll help you re-live your achievements…or in this case, let you live it up at a later date. It feels incredibly rewarding to read your journal entries from those times of your life when adrenaline gushed through your body. Those times when you were riding the dreaded Cortisol Roller Coaster. Those times when the word “dammit” was as common as “the” in your vocabulary.

Now do something worth celebrating. Then, apply one of the above strategies and let me know how it worked out. Until then…keep the Cava on ice.

Slàinte!

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